Taunton police shoot dog while searching for shooting suspect

A shooting was reported at a city home Monday afternoon, but no arrests were made after an initial investigation, according to Taunton police.

Police said no human injuries were reported.

Cruisers flooded First Street around 1 p.m. on Monday after calls for shots fired in the neighborhood. Taunton police said they searched the second floor of 62 First St., but didn’t immediately find the shooter or any injured parties.

“It was shots fired,” said Taunton police Detective Mike Bonenfant, who was at the scene as part of the investigation. “To my knowledge (no one was hurt).”

Taunton police said that they initially searched the second floor without finding anybody there. But they encountered an “aggressive” dog and shot it to death.

“When we entered the apartment there was an aggressive dog that unfortunately was put down,” Bonenfant said.

Bonenfant said that it was unclear who owned the dog.

Taunton police remained on scene as late as 6:30 p.m. conducting a search warrant of the building and inspecting the garage on the property, a two-story apartment house with a cluttered porch and deteriorated siding, located across street from the Charles Flannery Memorial Playground.

Marcel Berthelette, who lives a few houses down on the other side of the road, said that there were 20 to 25 police cruisers on the street in the aftermath of the shooting.

“Anything like that is scary,” Berthelette said. “I’ve been here almost 30 years and we’ve had a couple of violent incidents in the park here, but it’s usually a very nice neighborhood.

Berthelette said that his neighbor, who lives across the street from the site of the shooting, heard eight shots at 1 p.m. before hiding in the cellar of her home. Berthelette said that he was home at 3:30 p.m. when three more gunshots went off.

Attempts to speak with head investigator Sgt. Matthew Skwarto were unsuccessful on Monday night, as he remained busy searching the home.

Sgt. Honorato Santos, another investigator at the scene, said he was not sure what led to the gunfire.

“It’s still under investigation,” Santos said. “I’ve been here all day and still don’t know why it happened.”

Several hours after the shooting was reported, Taunton police released a statement online about the investigation.

“After investigation, police determined an exchange of gunfire had occurred, and did not appear to be random,” the statement said. “The area was secured for several hours while search warrants were obtained and executed. The incident remains under investigation.”